Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Pennsylvania’s unions are mobilizing against a bill that would end mandatory union dues for public employees.

Teamsters packed the Capitol rotunda to oppose House Republican Daryl Metcalfe’s bill, which would let local and state public employees opt out of union membership. They chanted, “what time is it? Union time!” before the start of the rally, where Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Treasurer Frank Snyder said unions won’t be afraid to spend money on the fight against the bill. “We have our own PAC fund here, and we are no longer going to give a politician $500, a thousand dollars, and then go home and sit on our couch next Wednesday and hope they do the right thing.” He warned. “We are no longer going to do that. We are going to take our money, we are going to get our people out there, we are going to put boots on the ground. We are going to help those who help us.”

Metcalfe says the union opposition proved his point, and that leaders are, “trying to protect their six-figure salaries, trying to keep from being held accountable by their own membership. Because they believe that the only way to be – hold onto their power is to actually have the government be their enforcer.”

Similar bills have been introduced by Metcalfe and others in the past, but have never cleared both the House and Senate. Governor Corbett says he’d sign a right-to-work measure. He’s against stripping public unions of their collective bargaining power, though.